UTAH'S BIRTHDAY JULY 24, 2006

On Pioneer Day we went to Grandma and Grandpa Strong's in Alpine. The kids played in the tree with Uncle Trevor.







Ady hung out with Grandpa.




Matthew with Uncle Jeff.



Adylin got her first taste of the "STRONG" homemade rootbeer. They have it all the summertime functions.



AND they spent as much time in the tire swings as they could. Both Tanner and Adylin LOVE the tire swings. Too bad there are a lot of great-grandkids that love it too, so they have to take turn.










Matthew hung out with Grandpa and got some of Great-Grandma's famous homemade vanilla icecream. He sure loved it and would scream at Grandpa if he wasn't shoveling it in fast enough.

SATURDAY of our Cabin trip.

Friday was really hot, so we decided to go to Logan on Saturday (Wendy's birthday.) The drive in the canyon was gorgeous, but I was too tired to take pictures :) We got to Logan and had Aggies icecream.





After icecream we went to the Logan temple.








When we got back from Logan, Mark and Cindy (Wendy's parents) were there. Wendy's sister Heidi and her husband Mark, and her daughter Hailey were there too.
Here's a picture of Heidi holding Matthew and Hailey (they are only a few weeks apart. Both born 5 weeks early.)



Here'e Tanner goofing around by the car.



The duck came up to the cabin wanting to be fed. We got it to walk part way back to the pond, but then he wouldn't go further, so Poppa Mark caught it so the kids could pet it.





The kids had a water fight, but soon the adults got involved.



Davis and Ady


Tanner and Mark

Last but not least,

We found a dead bird in the fireplace that Poppa Mark had to get out. It was a woodpecker and quite beautiful.



After dinner we were out on the front porch and a Mama Moose and her baby came to drink out of the pond. There's also a salt block near the pond that they lick. It was probably my favorite part.







I almost forgot. Tanner got to ride the "RHINO". He had a lot of fun riding on the "four-wheeler".

More of our cabin adventure

While I took the kids to feed the ducks, Davis watched Ady and Matthew. This is how we found them when we got back.



After the naps, Davis and Brian went to chop the log blocking the road.





The chopped one end and then the other. Soon they were able to move it and TADA....our handy men.









Wendy and I got a lot of quiet talking time in, since we spent a lot of time feeding the babies. Here's a picture of Matthew and Cammi relaxing.



Occasionally the Mom's would have other things to do, so Addison was sweet enough to entertain the babies. She had them laughing up a storm.

OUR CABIN VACATION

We went to Mark and Cindy Woolley's cabin July 21-22. It was a lot of fun. We went with Brian and Wendy (Woolley) Paul and their kids Addison (5) Ethan (2) and Campbell (3 months). Here's a picture of the cabin.



When we got there, there was a big log in the middle of the road. Here's Addison looking at the log.



We were able to drive around it, so we did and unpacked. After lunch I took the kids to feed the ducks. (Wendy's mom takes a Mom and Dad duck and some ducklings up to the cabin every year. They usually become dinner for another animal, but they're fun to have while they last.)

If you're looking for adoption pictures...SORRY!! We weren't able to adopt today. DCFS wasn't able to get all of the paperwork done. Our lawyer got a new date of August 8th, 3pm. It'll come soon enough.

I forgot to give a report on the 4th of July!!! I forgot my camera, so I didn't get pictures. We had a great time. We went to Grandma and Grandpa Strong's house in Alpine for lunch. The kids played on the tire swing (I took pictures at the 24th so I will post them later.) AND Grandpa (Davis' dad) held Matthew while I was pushing the kids on the swing. Matthew got fussy because he was hungry, so Grandpa gave him a hotdog....yes a HOTDOG!!! He's 4 months old. BUT, it worked, he sucked away and was content until Mom could feed him. Since I didn't have my camera, I took pictures of Davis giving Matthew a hotdog at our family reunion. He didn't LOVE it as much as the one Grandpa gave him, but you can see he liked it.

LINDSAY FAMILY REUNION

We went up to Burley Idaho July 14-16th. We had a lot of fun swimming in the Hotel pool, eating Jack's yummy dutch oven cooking and seeing family we hadn't seen in a while. The last time I'd been up to Burley was when Tanner was about 4 weeks old. Davis and I went up to pick apricots off my grandparents tree. Before that, I hadn't seen any of these people since I was pregnant with Tanner...so it'd been a long time. When my mom's cousin Louise got there, she asked me where my boy was. I showed her Tanner and told her he was 5 years old now. WOW! I then showed her Adylin and Matthew and she said, "Holly, I know it said to multiple and replenish, BUT, not all in the same week!!" It was funny! It was also nice to show off my cute kids. At least they behaved fairly well. LOL Tanner took some pictures, so don't mind the little blur.

My Brother John and my nephew Seth.





My niece Audree and me (my Dad in background)






Davis and Adylin






Adylin with my Great Aunt Mae (first meeting)






Adylin and a cousin (not sure how she's related)




Hopefully I can get some swimming pictures from my SIL and posts those. hint hint Emillee.

BACK FROM COURT!!!!


We went to court today at 9:30 am. We got a call from our lawyer on Tuesday letting us know that Vicky (great aunt trying to adopt the kids) was being distant. She orignally said she would drop the petition, but since hasn't even returned her lawyers phone calls. :( He told us that at court, we would present our case and ask the judge to grant us priority for adoption and that we would most likely just be setting another court date to present our information.

So off to court we went. We met with our attorney and the other foster family, to go over the plan. While we were in the "green" room, the other attorney poked his head in and asked to talk to our attorney. When our attorney returned, he informed us that Vicky was not planning on dropping the petition, but she knows she's in a losing battle, so she has granted us the right to adopt and she will no longer fight it. So we went into the court room, the other attorney gave his "case" and they set a finalization adoption date for July 27, 2006. We were shocked, but oh so happy.

So, it is nearly official. We also have our sealing date planned for August 19th at 4 pm.

I will post pictures next week. :)

Lagoon

We went to Lagoon on Thursday July 6th 2006. We got up to Bountiful around 3 and checked into a hotel. :) We then headed to Lagoon where we met up with Davis' parents and all of his siblings (minus Kiersti and Bryan.) The first thing we did was try to find Davis' family, but since we couldn't get ahold of anyone's cellphones, we decided to take Tanner on a ride. The first ride he was scared to go on. :( So we headed to the kiddie rides where he rode a boat with Davis. We then met up with his parents and Andy w/ Lexi and Will. Tanner and Lexi and Will rode the planes. We then waited in line for the little rollercoaster for 30 minutes. The ride wasn't working, so we gave up and left the line. Just as we got out of line, they got it working again...thus the start of our bad luck. We went and had dinner. And then the kids were CRANKY. So Davis and Andy took the kids back to the hotel to get them to sleep. They waited for the Grandparents to arrive to watch them. Well, Tanner wanted to play minigolf (which cost more money...) so I told him "no". He threw a fit and when he left with Grandpa and Grandma he'd only ridden 2 kiddie rides, the haunted house and the skyride for $23.....grrr!!!! Well, Davis finally came back (while he was gone I got to ride 2 rides.) We were scheduled to do the sky coaster (cost money) but while we were in line, it started to storm over with lightning, so they shut the ride down. :( So we headed to the speed way for a refund, but decided to ride those. We waited in line for 20 minutes in the rain and they came and told us they were closing it to let it dry out :( So, we'd been at Lagoon since 4 (it closes at 10) and Davis had ridden one kiddie ride and I'd ridden 2 adult rides. Davis' brother Andy had been there but only had his kids ride the rides...... So we were off to the bumper cars. In the end we rode 3 adult rides for the lovely price of $23 each (Davis, me and Tanner!!!) It doesn't look like we'll be going to Lagoon EVER AGAIN!!! grrr!!!

The best part was staying at a hotel and not having to drive home that night. The next day we went swimming (Tanner and Ady's favorite part) and then went to lunch and headed home.